Dabbling in Darkness
by ReadYourHeartOut
Summary: After her brush with death at the hands of the Lich and her failure with Goliad, Princess Bubblegum has been stuck on the idea of immortality. Conveniently enough, there happens to be an immortal nearby who wants to be closer to her... Bubbline, from Marcy's p.o.v. Probably a little dark at times. Not my usual, happy go lucky romantic-comedy.
1. Chapter 1

I woke up warm. Weird, since I was undead and all. From across the room, I could see sunlight peeking through the window, and I grimaced. I shouldn't have even been awake at that time. The reason for all this was lying next to me, still fast asleep on my arm. I was trapped, and my skin felt a little sticky. Bubblegum will do that. She had called me over the night before, told me she was conducting an experiment on slumber parties and that she needed my help.

"You can stay the night," she'd said. "But you'll have to be on your best behavior." And well, I didn't have anything else going. Plus, any chance to stay the night with her, just the two of us…how could I say no? The idea that she wanted me there was way more exciting than it should've been. I mean, I knew that she didn't like me…like _that_ or anything, but I could still dream.

And now, there I was, trapped under her sleeping head in my PJs, waiting for her to wake up. I got to sleep next to her. That was enough. I couldn't remember everything about the night before. We'd played video games. I'd brought some music for her to hear. She was wearing that shirt I gave her… But the later the night got, the fuzzier my memory was. Weird.

"Good morning, Princess! Have you—" Her little candy butler came in through the door, but he stopped when he saw us. Wanting to mess with him a little, I hissed threateningly, and he squealed and ran away. While I was laughing, Bonnie started to wake up. She mumbled in her sleep and rolled over, then pushed herself up. When she saw me, she seemed surprised, but she smiled back.

"Good morning," she said. "I didn't expect you to stay all night."

"You kinda had me stuck," I teased.

"Right. Sorry about that." Her smile stayed, but she still looked tired. Really, she almost looked sick.

"You okay?" I asked, frowning. "You're kind of pale."

"Hm? I'm sure I'm fine," she answered, distracted. "I do feel a little strange. Maybe it's because we stayed up so late." She reached over to her nightstand and grabbed the notebook she had been using to make her "observations" all night. She scribbled down a couple of lines, then paused to read over what she had written before bed, nibbling on the end of her candy cane pen. Then she bit down, and the end of it snapped off in her mouth.

"Whoa, what's wrong? Is your blood sugar low or something?" I was making jokes, but she looked pretty shaken up. One of her hands lifted up to push her hair back, and that was when I saw it. There, on her neck, there were two little dots…spaced just like my fangs. Oh, glob. I bit her? When did _that_ happen? I didn't remember it at all! But that would explain why she looked pale, and why she was feeling weird… Had she given me permission? I _hoped_ she had given me permission; when I got _really_ hungry, I wasn't good at taking "no" for an answer. "Bonnie, I don't—" She shook her head, looking completely lost (for once). Her hands were clutching her notebook tightly against her chest, and her eyes just stared straight ahead.

"Marceline," she said quietly. "I think you should go." Crap. She was mad. Of course she was mad. And I didn't even remember what I'd done!

"But…it's daylight," I argued weakly. Don't get me wrong; I was _so_ ready to run away from this, but burning and dying was a little too far… She got up and went to her closet, dragging out a long, thick cloak. She threw it on the bed in front of me, then went into the bathroom without a word and locked the door. I waited for about ten minutes, but she didn't come back. What was I supposed to do? I got out of her bed with a huge pit in my stomach. How could I do something so stupid?

"Okay," I said quietly as I put the cloak on and covered my head with its hood. "Bye…" Then I flew out the window as fast as I could, fast enough for frustrated tears to be blown off by the wind.


	2. Chapter 2

Days later, and I still felt bad. I never felt _bad_; that wasn't my style. But this time…she was more than just angry with me. I mean, Bonnie and I had always had a sort of…complicated relationship. Not exactly friends, not exactly enemies. I would tease her and get on her nerves, and she would nag me and tell me I was a nuisance. We didn't really hate each other, but it was no secret that we sort of had a history of fighting.

But this time… This was different. Usually, when we fought, she had her argument all lined up in her head, and she would give it to me as a neat bulleted list. The last time we'd spoken, she had hardly said anything at all, and she'd actually _run away_ from me. Sure, I'm used to that—I'm a monster and all—but not from her. Not Bonnie. If you'd asked me what it was about her that made my heart scream like it did, I couldn't tell you. I never knew why I wanted her so much; she was too proper, too clean and sweet, and even a little snobby. But even time I was around her, I just got this _feeling_ that I couldn't get from anyone else. A feeling more exciting than pulling pranks and screwing with people's heads. The only feeling that mattered at all.

Vampires aren't really romantics. Some people like to think so, but there's not anything dreamy about getting your throat ripped out. We're not good at expressing our feelings—when we're lucky enough to have them. Biting is usually our go-to option. Whenever we feel too much, too strongly, and we don't know how to cope with it…we try to get rid of the cause.

Had I tried to do that to Bonnibel? I couldn't stop thinking about it, trying to remember what had happened, but it was no use. Maybe all that sugar was messing up my brain. Of course, the one time I actually got to put my lips on her skin, and I couldn't even remember it! I just wished she would call me or even send one of her little servants. Anything so I could have _some_ idea of what she was thinking.

I stayed at home for a while. No reason to go out; nothing seemed like any fun. I tried working on a new song, but the music just wouldn't come out.

"Crud," I muttered, dropping my bass on the bed. "How lame." Thinking like this was seriously bumming me out. Why should I care how she was doing or if she was mad at me? What did it matter to me how she felt? I didn't care—

My phone rang from downstairs, and I was there in a split-second to answer it. I knew it was her. It _had_ to be her.

"Marceline?"

"Bonnie. Hey." I wasn't sure what else to say. Maybe she was calling to gripe at me or something. I had to be careful.

"Are you busy? I'd like to see you," she told me matter-of-factly. She didn't _sound_ mad.

"I don't have any plans or anything," I replied.

"Great. Just come by the castle whenever you can tonight. I'll be waiting." And she hung up without so much as a good-bye. The whole thing made me nervous, but…well, if she wanted to see me, I wasn't going to say no. Maybe there was a way I could get her to forgive me for what happened. Normally, I wasn't big into apologizing, but I might have to make an exception in this case. For a while, I floated around my house, trying to think of something to say to her. After the sun set, I headed out and hoped her invitation meant she didn't hate my guts.

When I got to the gates, I was greeted by banana guards. Those guys aren't too bright, but they serve their purpose; they led me downstairs—_way_ downstairs—to Bonnibel's lab, then left me there without any kind of instructions.

"Uh, hello?" I called, sticking my head inside the door. So much for my big apology speech.

"Come in," her voice called from a corner, and I floated inside to find her standing in front of a chalkboard. It looked like she was working on something pretty complex, but she had scribbled it out. I tried to sneak a look at her, and what I saw made my stomach squirm. She looked like she hadn't slept since I last saw her, and she had gotten even paler, too. Her hair was pulled back (so I could see the bite mark I'd left), and she had this huge, nerdy glasses; the whole scientist look would've been cute if she hadn't looked so sick. "Marceline. I'm glad to see you."

"You are? That's unexpected," I muttered. "After what happened, I figured you hated me…"

"No, no," she argued, shaking her head. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Have a seat." There were a couple of metal chairs by the counter, and she sat in one, gesturing to the other one for me. Even though it looked really uncomfortable, I sat down and pulled my legs up to my chest.

"So what's up?"

"I've been looking over the notes I made on the night of this…incident." She touched her neck. "And I've started to develop some very exciting hypotheses. How old are you, Marceline?"

"Uh, about a thousand," I answered awkwardly.

"Exactly. You're immortal because you're a vampire. _I've_ been looking for the secret to immortality for years, but I was looking in the wrong books. The answer doesn't lie in science at all!" Her eyes were fixed on my mouth. Normally, that would've been a good thing, but I was sure I liked where this conversation was going. "I have a proposition for you. Nothing would make me happier than to study your extended lifespan and find out if there's a way that I can extract the immortality gene from your DNA and apply it to others."

"Are you kidding? No way!" I left my chair and floated past her, furious. What the heck did she think I was? Some kind of lab experiment? She could just use me for her science, and I would be okay with it? No matter what kind of feelings I had for her, I wasn't about to let her use me like some kind of tool!

"Marceline, please!" She grabbed my hand before I could leave, and by reflex, I turned and hissed at her. But she didn't let go. For a second, I thought about forcing her to, but then I saw the tears in her eyes. She tugged on my hand, and then she was on the floor, still holding onto me. When she spoke, her voice was shaky and breathless, "Listen to me. You…you don't know what it's like to fear death. I was nearly killed once before. Do you understand what that means? I almost _died_." Her face turned up toward me, and I could see wet streaks down her cheeks. "You have no idea how horrifying that knowledge is. That any day, I could die, and I would be gone forever. My kingdom would be lost without a ruler. My people, my friends… They need me. If you could help me…why wouldn't you?" She looked so hurt, and she made it sound like it was my fault. It's not like I made her a mortal or anything!

"Look, Bonnie, being a vampire, it's not all it's cracked up to be," I told her uneasily. I hated that pained look on her face…but I didn't know how to fix it. "Besides, I don't even know if I could make you the same as me; I've never tried before. Most of the time, my bites just zombies…or corpses."

"But I'll be here to help," she insisted. "I know candy biology and anatomy. I know how my blood works, and we can study how I'm affected. I've been recording the changes I've felt since it happened, and the results are phenomenal! We'll do it together. With my science and your knowledge of the arcane, I'm sure we can." She looked so hopeful all of a sudden, and she pulled me down further so I was sitting on my knees in front of her. "Please." I couldn't even meet her eyes. Was this really what she wanted? This was a _big_ deal; it's not something you just rush into. But hearing her cry like that had me really shaken up. If she died… Jeez, I couldn't even stand thinking about it. I opened my mouth to answer (even though I wasn't sure _what_ I was going to say), but then she collapsed against my shoulder.

"Hey! Bonnie! Are you okay?" I pushed her up to look her in the face, but she was having trouble staying upright.

"I dunno," she mumbled, putting a hand to her head. "I feel…weak. Haven't eaten…"

"What? Why haven't you…?" Oh, man.

"I tried. But nothing helped." She was steadily shaking her head, clutching my arms while I tried to hold her up. Great. She was already starting to want _my_ kind of food. But…she didn't have fangs; how could she drink the color out of anything? My face heated up as an idea came to mind. Maybe I could help her eat something. But that meant I'd have to… After a second, I noticed that she was watching me, eyeing my red cheeks hungrily.

"Uh…just stay here for a second." I carefully let her go, then searched the room and grabbed the first red thing I saw: a huge book that was lying on the counter. I brought it back to her and said, "So, I think I can help you, but…uh, you'd have to—"

"I understand." Even when she was so weak already, she still managed to blush as she realized what I was saying. "If that's what has to be done…I hope you don't mind." What could I say? I was _determined_ to remember this time. Picking the book up, I lifted it up to my mouth and sucked all the red out of it, then moved a little closer to her, embarrassed. My lips touched hers, and I shivered. Trying not to freak out, I opened my mouth a little so she could drink the red that was on my tongue. After her first taste, she surprised me by reaching up into my hair to pull me closer. Oh, wow… I couldn't tell if she was kissing me as hard as I thought she was…or if she was just hungry. Either way, my whole body felt like it was on fire, and I realized I was holding her close, too. After a few seconds, I realized that I didn't have any more food for her, so I let her go. Still, she was holding onto me tightly, and her breathing was heavy between us.

"…did that help?" I asked. Though she wouldn't meet my eyes, she nodded.

"Thank you. Does this mean you're going to help me with my research? You've seen how little I know about this already." What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just let her suffer and starve. And…if I meant I got to kiss her like that, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Bonnie around forever…it would give us one thing in common, at least.

"Okay," I agreed, positive that I would regret it later. But my head was still a little foggy from that kiss… "I'll do it."


End file.
